RICHMOND, Ind. — Baseball has always been near the top of the priority list for the Carr family.
Kevin Carr, who is the oldest son of Earlham College Director of Athletics Frank Carr and his wife Becky, still has his name in the Quakers’ baseball record book since he graduated in 2005.
Jake Carr will be honored Sunday on Senior Day as Earlham faces
Berea College in a doubleheader at McBride Stadium. “I learned a lot of what I knew about baseball from what my dad taught Kevin,” said Jake Carr, who turns 22 years old on Sunday. “Watching Kevin play in high school and college was always a big thing and it motivated me because he is the hardest working baseball player I’ve ever seen.”
“Kevin’s work ethic kind of rubbed off on me,” Jake added. “I’ve always tried to do what he did because I saw how much success he had.”
The success that Kevin was able to attain on the field was surpassed by Jake as he rewrote Earlham’s baseball history. “I’m proud of what he has been able to do, but I’m more proud he is my brother,” said Kevin, who also played professionally for the Richmond Roosters in the Frontier League. “Jake is too modest.”
“He took everything very seriously,” Kevin added. “He was working out everyday and he was always doing the things that most people don’t want to do. I’m flattered when he says I was a hard worker, but he’s too modest. He did it all himself.”
Heading into this weekend’s doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday with
Berea, Jake Carr is Earlham’s all-time leader in career batting average (.383), at-bats (465), hits (178), doubles (40), runs (97) and RBI (102). He is also the single-season record holder for hits (55), doubles (17) and runs scored (37).
A two-sport star for the Quakers, Jake Carr was named to the All-North Coast Athletic Conference First Team as a catcher last year. He was a second team choice in 2007 and 2008. He also earned All-NCAC Second Team honors last fall as a defensive back on Earlham’s football squad.
“I’ve played every baseball game since I’ve been at Earlham and I’ve been lucky,” Jake said of the end of his playing days for the Quakers. “I’m sure it will hit me after the last game, but I’ve had a great career and couldn’t have asked for anything more.”
Like his brother, Jake was named the winner of the George Van Dyke Outstanding Athlete Award. Jake also received the Wendel M. Stanley Senior Scholar-Athlete Award. “I’ve learned a lot about myself,” the psychology major said. “I’ve made some of the best friends that I have. I have been blessed and will take a lot away from this experience outside of the personal statistics.”
Adding to the family experience is that fact that Frank Carr joined the baseball staff as an assistant coach to John Cate prior to Jake’s junior season.
“It’s been really special the last two years just to have him in the dugout,” Jake said of his father’s presence. “When I get mad, he is one of the people who will approach me and tell me things. I always listen to what he says.”
Frank Carr is enjoying the opportunity. “Over the last nine years, there has been a Carr on the Earlham baseball team in eight of those years,” he said. “I’ve been to nearly every game in their careers.”
“I’ve seen every at bat of Jake’s college career, but I missed a few of Kevin’s,” Frank said. “For me to experience that has really been special, but putting the uniform on and being in the dugout the last two years has increased how special that is. I really feel like I am a part of it and it’s really been fun.”
“Jake is blessed with ability and he watched how hard his brother worked,” Frank continued with a chuckle. “But Jake and Kevin are different in the way they express themselves on the field. Jake is always smiling and somewhat talkative, but he is quietly competitive. Kevin was loudly competitive.”
Kevin is pleased that Jake is being coached by their father, which he experienced as a member of Earlham’s football team when the elder Carr was at the helm of the program. “To be able to go to a game see when he is standing on first base that he’s talking to dad is really pretty neat,” Kevin said.
As Jake’s time on the baseball field comes to an end against
Grace College on Wednesday at McBride, Kevin is confident his brother is ready for the future. “It’s hard for any person to be done playing sports,” Kevin said. “I know he’s going to be successful in anything he does because of what he learned at Earlham. He’s a good guy and a good teammate. People always want to be around him.”
Jake’s immediate plans for the future are not certain, but one person who will be there is his wife, Jenny, whom he married last fall. “I’ve been with Jenny for seven years,” Jake said. “She has always been a constant thing in my life and she understands the game pretty well. It’s been nice to have that rock there.”
And for the Earlham baseball program, the Carr family’s contributions over the last nine years have been set in stone forever.
Jake Carr's 2010 stats
Palladium-Item Story about Jake Carr